Cherry Pie Crumble Bars – Best Ever!

Summer Picnic Bliss:
Cherry Pie Crumble Bars

It’s summer. And it’s time to go on a picnic. Host a cookout. Or, bake something special just because it is summer.

It’s also time to serve a crowd. In fact, today’s recipe is all about baking to please a crowd. And we’re going to do it “summer picnic style”. What is both easy to bake and yet will be sure to knock everyone’s socks off and make the day special? Our Cherry Pie Crumble Bars made with our Homemade Tart Cherry Pie Filling, of course!

Do it. Bake a batch. You won’t regret it. You’ll be a rock star.

Seriously. Sour (tart) cherries are called “pie cherries” for a reason. They are simply the best cherries for pie. The best. They are truly divine. The unearthly super-bright red orbs turn into a deep, eye-catching ruby-red hue once baked which just makes my heart go pitter-patter. They also pack a powerful fruity-tart flavor profile to knock any ol’ berry on its bum. Sorry berries. I do love you. But, tart cherries rule my world.

You need to bake these bars packed with deliciousness as soon as humanly possible, y’all. Our Cherry Pie Crumble Bars taste just like tart cherry pie! I kid you not. But, without the muss. And the fuss. Of a pie. Bonus.

Being a bona fide tart cherry pie lover (this girl knows her pies), take my word for it that these Cherry Pie Crumble Bars taste just like tart cherry pie with a rich pastry crust. Why? Because I designed tweaked this recipe specifically to create the ultimate rich, buttery crumble pastry with just the right amount of sugar and salt to complement any fruit filling. The goal was to develop a crumble pastry recipe to taste more like classic pie pastry rather than a typical crumble bar. I wanted enough salty-sweet action to “dance the merengue” on the tongue with both tart and sweet fruit fillings for these very special “crumble pie bars”.

Most crumble pastry recipes are flavorless. They need a major flavor boost by using real butter (not shortening), richness from egg yolks, a touch of pure extracts, the perfect amount of sugar and adequate salt. Just ask your taste buds. They won’t lie to you. Ever.

And, because this pastry was designed for my favorite crumble bar filling ever (ever, peeps!), Homemade Tart Cherry Pie Filling, a little splash of pure almond extract was in order. Why? Because cherries without almond extract is like a beautiful lady dressed to the nines in a drop dead gorgeous red dress without a subtle alluring perfume. The result? Sheer bliss, people! I had to stop myself from eating the whole pan.

Our Homemade Tart Cherry Pie Filling is thickened just right so the filling isn’t too runny once baked by accounting for the natural juices of the cherries so they ooze all sorts of goodness throughout the bars. Nom!

I know. I’m such a tease.

Today’s featured recipe is one that I have made countless times. Countless. Quite often, I make traditional Blueberry Crumb Bars as summer blueberry treats are The Big Lug’s favorites. After making them the first time well over 10 years ago now with the recipe found at AllRecipes.com, I have since made fillings made with raspberries, mixed berries and apple. In a pinch, I have made it with quality strawberry preserves and some frozen whole raspberries. I’ve even made these bars with a ribbon of cheesecake for an extra indulgent crumble bar.

OK, since I have teased and tantalized you with fresh tart cherries from our cherry picking field trip, the least I can do is offer you an alternative to making your own tart cherry pie filling so you can whip up a batch of these incredibly tasty bars.

My favorite way of baking these quick and easy-to-assemble “pie bars” when tart cherries cannot be had fresh is withFruit Perfect® Sour Cherries made with tart Montmorency cherries from my native Michigan by American Spoon Foods. It’s. That. Good.

I say, go for it. You will love it! And, no. I was not paid for saying so. I just adore the stuff. It’s a Michigan thing.

What dessert would you bring to a picnic to serve a crowd?

What makes our Cherry Pie Crumble Bars wicked good? A sumptuous homemade cherry pie filling made with plenty of fresh picked tart cherries as well as a crumble pastry with just the right salty-sweet and buttery richness you would expect in a darn good tart cherry pie. Irresistible.

And, did we mention easy? Yes, this recipe is incredibly easy. What’s not to love?

Cherry Pie Crumble Bars – Best Ever!

Description

What makes our Cherry Pie Crumble Bars wicked good? A sumptuous homemade cherry pie filling made with plenty of fresh picked tart cherries as well as a crumble pastry with just the right salty-sweet and buttery richness you would expect in a darn good tart cherry pie. Did we mention easy? Yes, this recipe is incredibly easy. What’s not to love?

Directions

Arrange oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch metal baking pan with shortening. (I like to use my Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch® Nonstick Rectangular Cake Pan.) Line pan with baking parchment so there is an overhang. Do this by measuring parchment 4 inches in length additionally at each side of pan. This will allow 2 inches of coverage on each end once folded and tucked in. Lightly grease parchment paper. This will create “handles” which will help removing bars from pan and to transfer to cutting board to cut into even bars after chilling.

Prepare the Crust & Crumble Top Pastry: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal with small pea-sized pieces of butter. (Alternatively, process in your food processor until mixture is crumbly.) In a small bowl, whisk extracts into beaten egg yolks using a fork. With a fork, gently toss into flour mixture until moistened and dough starts to hold together. Continue to toss and blend gently with fingertips until well combined yet taking care not to overwork the dough.

Remove 2 generous cups of the crumb mixture and set aside for the topping in a small bowl. Press remaining dough evenly into prepared baking pan. Spoon Tart Cherry Pie Filling into pan on top of dough and spread evenly with rubber spatula; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until topping is golden brown and filling is cooked through and bubbly, about 45 to 55 minutes. To prevent over-browning of topping, cover with sheet of aluminum foil during last 20 minutes of baking. Remove foil and carefully transfer to wire rack to cool completely before cutting into squares. See Tips below for cutting into even squares.

To Serve Bars: Serve at room temperature, chilled or slightly warmed in microwave oven. If desired, serve warm with fresh whipped cream or a la mode with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe Notes

Tips:

For even cut squares, cool bars for 1 hour on wire rack. Then, chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Remove from pan using folded parchment paper at sides of pan as “handles”. Transfer to large cutting board. Carefully cut into even squares using a ruler as a guide with a sharp chef’s knife peeling away parchment paper as you go.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

For Gluten-Free Option: Substitute 3½ cups (448 grams) Cup4Cup (C4C) Gluten-Free Flour, available at Williams-Sonoma, or your favorite gluten-free flour blend measured cup for cup or by grams in place of the all-purpose wheat flour called for in the recipe.

About Stacy

Stacy Bryce is a recipe developer and member of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals). Her passion is developing original conventional baking recipes as well as special diet recipes to include dairy-free, gluten-free and grain-free. You can follow Stacy at Pinterest.

2 things, I need to make these crumble bars because they look delicious! And then I need to go on a picnic! Thanks for the lovely afternoon you planned out! 🙂Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl recently posted…Oven Roasted Creamy Cherry Tomato Sauce

Thank you, Maria! It’s always a great day when you stop by and you always make me smile. You’ll love the pie filling. I could not stop eating it by the spoonful as I spooned it into jars. Thanks again and happy baking!

Stacy, Once again something you posted has taken my breath away – even at 8:00 in the morning. Either you are terribly talented or I have a small problem with absolutely delicious-looking food. I feel quite certain the case is “both.” Yesterday, I spent half the day pondering what I could make with cherries and then I come across this post. Beautiful job – keep it up!!

Stacy, you’re killing me with these bars! I am a cherry pie FIEND, and haven’t even made anything with cherries this season. I know, tragic. That has to change with these beautiful bars! They are so irresistible!Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking recently posted…Links I Love

Oooh, these just LOOK like what summer is supposed to be. So red and sweet and delicious! Love it. As always, thank you for the gluten free option. These would be such a hit with my family. There’s a lot of us and I think they’d be gobbled up in 60 seconds without realizing they are gluten free. 🙂 Hope you’re well, girl! xoxAnne recently posted…Lone Star Paleo: I’m a busy bee.

Aww…thank you, Anne! Yes, if your family adores tart cherries they will be over-the-moon for these Cherry Pie Crumble Bars! I’ve missed you, girl. I’m so glad you’re back in the saddle again with blogging. It’s always a fabulous day when you stop by! xox

Stacy, when you post things like this, you don’t realize the embarrassing, unnatural things you make a grown woman like myself do. Like, um, shout “OH MY GOD” from the top of my lungs, startling everyone around me? Or like the fact that I nearly LICKED MY SCREEN because my mind can’t comprehend that something this amazing can exist? Seriously. I am hating/loving you right now.Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel recently posted…Toffee Sundae Cupcakes (and a Frostings Giveaway!!)

Hahaha! I love ya, girl! You totally crack me up. I wish that I could send you some of these Cherry Pie Crumble Bars, but they’re already gone! Another tart cherry recipe is coming to the blog this week. So, be forewarned! Thanks for stopping by, my friend! xo

Thank you, Lori! I appreciate your support ever so much. You are the sweetest. Just finished reading your blog and now I am over at Sandy’s (Reluctant Entertainer). Adore her. It is fun seeing you both in “entertainment mode” on the same day in your backyards as well as seeing you in her photos. Thanks again for including a link to Wicked Good Kitchen’s Cherry Pie Crumble Bars in your special Summer Cherry Recipe Round-up post, now at 101 Recipes! I am truly honored to be included with such a fine group of food blogs and recipe developers. Meanwhile, as positive fate would have it, I am working on a special recipe round-up post for tomorrow…a first for Wicked Good Kitchen. (It’s a good one.) And (of course!), there will be several links for tasty recipes at RecipeGirl.com! When you give, it truly comes back. Doesn’t it? Thanks again for everything, my friend! xoxo

I am not kidding you…at the sight of that first picture, my mouth started watering. Oh wow…I can *almost* taste them. I’m so sad that we never see sour cherries in Texas. It’s a travesty, I tell you! I think I may need to order several of those jars that you linked to. 😉bridget {bake at 350} recently posted…So, you want to decorate cookies, do ya?

Hahaha! Thank you, Bridge! If you adore tart (sour) cherries, you simply must try American Spoon’s Fruit Perfect® Sour Cherries made with Michigan Montmorency cherries. And, if you ever make it up to Petoskey, Michigan, you can visit them in person as we have over the years. Here in Indiana, we are truly lucky to have a warm and friendly family-owned cherry orchard within driving distance, Stuckey Farm, for their Meteor (love the name) tart cherries. They also carry frozen Montmorency cherries, shipped in from Michigan, until apple picking starts. So nice to have in the freezer to whip up some cherry treats! Many orchards ship as well. Check KingOrchards.com based near Elk Rapids, Michigan. They have an online store and even a blog! Thanks for stopping by, girl. You made my day! xo

SIGH. These look amazing. Do you know I’ve never had a sour cherry? You just can’t get them here in Australia, where I live. I’m saving my pennies, to head straight to Travers City once I can afford it! Cherry pie, here I come!Sarah | The Sugar Hit recently posted…Onion Bagels

Just made these a few minutes ago and tried them. I actually added two egg yolks and one whole egg for more moisture, a tiny bit of water, and a little milk, just enough to make the dry ingredients stick together and almost form a dough. It came out with a surprisingly nice texture, though not quite the soft bottom, crumbly top. This is because I had too much mix for my pan and made both the bottom and top too thick for either texture to be perfect.

It is still very delicious and I will definitely be making it again in the future, with the proportions much more correct. =)

Hi there, Erika! I’m so glad you tried this scrumptious recipe…even if you changed it up a bit to suit your tastes and size of baking pan. (My 9×13-inch Goldtouch® Nonstick Rectangular Cake Pan from Williams-Sonoma has nice sharp corners and straight sides, so there’s more room for the dough in this recipe. Baking dishes, like Pyrex®, have rounded corners so the dough in this recipe may have been more than ample or excessive.) Yes, this recipe does indeed make quite a bit of pastry dough for a thick bottom and plenty of crumbs on top as I stated in the article to accommodate the cherries. This is how we like our Cherry Pie Crumble Bars because a smaller amount of dough didn’t hold up well to the cherries. The dough was developed to taste more like pie pastry than a sweet crumble bar as explained in the article and why we call them “Cherry Pie Crumble Bars”. Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your feedback with me and other readers. Happy baking!

Hi there, LaVaya! Thank you for writing. To answer your question… Yes, you can definitely use canned cherry pie filling and would probably need at least two 21-ounce cans for this recipe in a 9×13-inch baking pan. I like to use my metal baking pan because it has nice sharp corners. If you use a glass baking dish, however, you may not need as much dough for the crust because the corners are very rounded. Therefore, if using my recipe’s ratio for the crust and topping be sure to use a similar metal baking pan that I mention in the recipe for best results. If not, cut back your ingredients by only using 3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup butter, 1 egg or two yolks is fine, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Watch your baking time as glass baking dishes are great heat conductors. As always, if you find that your crumb topping is getting too brown cover with a sheet of aluminum foil about 10 to 15 minutes or so before the end of the baking duration listed in recipes. Thanks again for writing and I hope that I have answered your question thoroughly and completely. Happy baking!

Hi there, John! I’m thrilled to know you enjoyed my recipe for Cherry Pie Crumble Bars. They are truly phenomenally good and seem to be a favorite with everyone. Thank you for taking the time to write and share your positive experience with me and fellow readers. I appreciate it more than you know. 🙂 Meanwhile, I hope you will drop by later this summer after cherry picking season. I have some serious plans for tart cherry recipes. In fact, last summer, I improved my Homemade Tart Cherry Pie Filling recipe and will be reposting it soon along with my Homemade Tart Cherry Pie – From Scratch with an irresistible All-Butter Flaky Pie Crust. Thanks again for writing and… Happy baking!

Welcome to My Kitchen

My name is Stacy. I'm a recipe developer, food writer, baker and member of the IACP. I love to concoct tasty baked creations to share with others—both traditional and gluten-free. Welcome to my Wicked Good Kitchen!